1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply control device for controlling a power switch of an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile, or a printmaking system that forms an image through electrophotography.
2. Description of Related Art
Image forming apparatuses are provided with a power switch for manually turning on/off the power supply by a user in a state where a power plug is inserted into an outlet. Further, in some image forming apparatuses, in order to suppress waste of electric power, there is provided an automatic power-off mechanism, which automatically turns off the power switch, in a case where the image forming apparatus is not operated during a predetermined period of time.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-268713 discloses an image forming apparatus having a conventional automatic power-off mechanism. In the image forming apparatus, an electromagnetic coil is provided in a power switch which is manually operable. By energizing the electromagnetic coil, the power switch is turned on or off, and thus energization/de-energization of the electric power supplied from the power plug to the image forming apparatus is switched over.
Like Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-268713, in the operation of the power switch using the electromagnetic coil, in order to prevent a user from performing an erroneous operation, a force (hereinafter referred to as an “operational force”), which prevents the energization/de-energization of the electric power from being switched over when the power switch is slightly touched, is necessary. In order to operate the power switch by applying a force corresponding to the operational force when the power supply is automatically turned off, a substantially strong electromagnetic coil is necessary. Hence, the size of the manual power switch using the electromagnetic coil tends to be large, and the costs thereof also tend to be high. Further, since the electromagnetic coil is strong, the electric energy at the time of driving the electromagnetic coil is large. Thus, it is difficult to reduce power consumption. In particular, it is necessary to maintain an electric power for driving the electromagnetic coil during the standby time, and thus it is difficult to reduce power consumption.